HOPEFUL FOR A GREEN SUMMER?

How to prepare your home for a quick, profitable, summer sale
By Melissa Leong
May 30, 2014

After a brutal winter, the heat has finally arrived and with it, expectations of a hotter real estate market. The flurry of housing activity normally reserved for early spring is extending into the summer, industry experts say.

“The pent up demand from the winter is coming to fruition. As soon as listings come out, they’re being swallowed up,” Gurinder Sandhu, executive vice-president at RE/MAX’s Ontario-Atlantic Canada Division, says.

“For buyers there are more choice and for sellers there are more buyers.”

How you price your home and how you prepare its for sale are key.

“Price trends from one neighbourhood to the next can be very different,” Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association. “If you price your property too high, there is a chance it’ll sit on the market without offers.”

Here’s how three recent home sellers weighed their options, and came out with the sale price they were looking for.

Original purchase price: $332,000 in 2002.

Asking price: $889,000

Sold on the first day: $889,000

Jennifer Lee, a 41-year-old public relations manager, had bought her 3,000-square foot home in Markham, Ont. brand new in 2002 for $332,000. The house had four bedrooms and four bathrooms. With the goal of moving her family to Toronto to be closer to work and loved ones, she put her house on the market on March 12.

What were your home selling goals? “My goal was to get maximum value for the home because I was going to move into a much more expensive neighbourhood. I also had a very short timeline because I wanted to match it with my kids finishing the school year.”

Describe your home selling strategy. “One of my strategies was to sell before I buy. [My brother] who has moved five or six times, said the stress he experienced buying a home first and then trying to sell his home was the worst stress of his entire life. Then you get into panicky mode: ‘I need to accept an offer.’ Then you get sellers regret: ‘Did I sell too cheap?’

We had looked at a home three doors down from us that was the exact same model that had sold last summer. They didn’t have a finished basement. It sold for $815,000. (We had spent about $50,000 to upgrade our basement.)

My agent told me that buyers in the market really like to bargain, so I thought I will price in a 5% to 10% buffer. My asking price was $889,000. I told my agent, ‘I don’t even want to hear an offer that is less than $850,000. In my head, I was thinking, I want $870,000 to $875,000.

We originally thought to hold off on offers; [our agent] said, let’s not lose momentum. If someone’s interested, let them make an offer.”

How did you prepare the home for sale? “We significantly de-cluttered. We stripped out all of the closets and did some re-painting. There were some bold colours on the main floor that we neutralized. We replaced carpet in the basement with laminate and new carpeting. Our budget for clean up was $3,000.”

What did the home finally sell for in the end? “We got an offer on the first day of the market for asking, no conditions.

“We do know that the buyer was from China and was moving to Toronto and was only in town for a week.”

Final thoughts on the process. “I’d recommend not holding off on offers. If someone wants to offer, find out what they want to offer. You can always go back to people who’ve looked at the house and see if they’re interested.

In terms of preparations, don’t get pushed around by contractors who tell you that you need to paint eight rooms and replace all mirrors. Buyers can generally see beyond paint. You don’t have to redo your whole house.”

Original purchase price: $122,500 in 2001

Asking price: $270,000

Selling price: $265,000

With Elisa Holland’s transient military career, which has included tours in Afghanistan, and her husband’s job as a consultant in Alberta’s oil patch, the couple has lived apart for eight years. They finally decided to list their Calgary home for sale on April 1 and move together to Kingston, Ont. They bought the two-storey townhouse with three bedrooms, one and a half baths and two parking spaces for $122,500 in 2001. They listed the 1,500-square foot property for $270,000.

What were your home selling goals? “We wanted to put it at a fair price to sell quickly so we could buy a house in Kingston; it allowed us to buy our dream house. Kingston is a very stable market whereas Calgary is the exact opposite. My aunt and uncle have a fully detached house with a two-car garage in Barrie Ont.; it’s listed at the same [price] as our townhouse.”

Describe your home selling strategy. “I had interviews with three realtors. You have to pick a realtor who understands your residence. The reason why we ended up going with Michelle [Russell, a realtor at Royal Lepage], she understands townhouse/condos and first-time buyers.

You want to make sure you have very neutral décor. You want it so that if someone else walks in, they don’t see that it’s your house but they can picture themselves there. If you have carpets, you want to take those up so it’s a clean line across the floor. If you have an area rug, it cuts up the space. If you have a pet, you want to remove all traces that you have one. Even before a realtor came over, I took photos and very harshly critiqued them.

Knowing when to put it on the market is key. Most people want to keep their kids in school and they’ll start looking in March/April.

What did the home finally sell for in the end? Our price that we’d be happy with was anything over $260,000. We ended up with two offers: $263,000 and $265,000. We ended up selling it for $265,000, with fewer conditions (they didn’t want a home inspection) and they already had their financing in place.

Final thoughts on the process. Go with your gut feeling, especially if you get multiple offers. Your realtor will give you a sense of what the buyer is like. The $263,000 offer that came in, I honestly felt sick to my stomach. I got a sense that there was something not quite right. Make sure you do your research on your realtor. Don’t always go by someone’s advertising. On the whole, the majority of good realtors will never have to advertise, it’s all word of mouth.

Original sale price: $245,000 in 1995

List price: $689,000

Sale price: $700,000

Asking price After living in a two-bedroom bungalow in New Westminster for 19 years, Bob Harris looked at the backyard one day and said, “I just don’t want to do it anymore.” The 68-year-old retired union rep wanted to downsize. He had bought the house for $245,000 and listed it for $689,000. Meanwhile, he saw a two-bedroom condo that he liked and he put an offer on it.

What were your home selling goals? “It seemed like a good time [to sell] in New Westminster; house prices were going up and condos were going down. The spread between the two was as good as it has been in a long time.”

Describe your home selling strategy. “The rush was on. We got it ready to show within a few days – decluttered, depersonalized it.

My real estate agent Dave [Vallee] had sold a couple [of homes] in the same shape as mine; he had sold one for $683,000. We put it at $689,000, hoping to get some competing offers.

In less than a week, we had an open house on a Sunday. The next day there were three offers, all higher than the asking price…$692,000, $699,000 and $700,000.”

Knowing when to put it on the market is key
What did the home finally sell for in the end? “Two of them were subject to financing. The [homebuyer offering] $695,000 had the money in cash. Her real estate agent was there that night at the house presenting the offer and she was waiting in the car. We said, ‘Would she be willing to move to $700,000 to meet the other offer?’ and she did.”

Final thoughts on the process. “It helps to have a realtor who knows the area that you’re buying and selling in. In going to a lot of open houses, you’d go to ones where the realtors were from outside the area – so there were a lot of questions they couldn’t answer.

If something needs painting, paint it. I went to some places and they were messy. It just doesn’t make you necessarily want to buy. The place that I did buy ironically, the person had been relocated back east and said, ‘Take it as it is.’ They probably could’ve asked for more if they had done a few things.”

Article Source: Financial Post
Illustrations by Chloe Cushman, National Post

TOO FEW

Lack of inventory fuelling price growth for Calgary housing market

Strong economy and influx of professionals

BY MARIO TONEGUZZI

CALGARY HERALD OCTOBER 10, 2013

CALGARY — A continued lack of inventory is fueling house price growth in Calgary.

The Royal LePage House Price Survey, released Thursday, shows strong year-over-year price increase in all housing types in the city as competition for homes is being driven by a strong economy and the influx of professionals.

The survey said average home prices were particularly buoyant in the third quarter with detached bungalows increasing 7.2 per cent year-over-year to $465,411, standard condominiums increasing 5.6 per cent to $263,087 and standard two-storey homes increasing 3.4 per cent to $446,411.

“A sustained period of low housing inventory coupled with a healthy economy and an influx of corporate sector workers has pushed prices up further,” said Ted Zaharko, broker/owner, Royal LePage Foothills. “For some time now too many homebuyers have been chasing too few properties.”

He said inventory is low in all categories, but particularly in detached bungalows, which are much rarer in Calgary compared to cities like Edmonton.

“Buyers are acting very quickly when homes are put up for sale, which is leading to frequent multiple offer situations on all housing types,” said Zaharko. “The aggressiveness of buyers is making it very difficult for first-time buyers to break into the market.”

He said third quarter activity was the most robust the Calgary market has seen in years, with buyers eagerly making offers on the limited inventory. In addition to normal demand, there was some extra activity coming from flood victims who were looking to move to locations on higher ground.

Nationally, the average price of a home in Canada increased between 1.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2013.

The survey showed a year-over-year average price increase of 3.7 per cent to $418,686 for standard two-storey homes, while detached bungalows rose 4.1 per cent to $381,811. During the same period, the average price for standard condominiums saw a more moderate increase, rising 1.2 per cent to $246,530. Sales volumes surged in a number of regions, as Canadians re-entered the housing market after sitting on the sidelines for more than a year — marking the end of the most significant housing market correction since the 2008-2009 global recession, said Royal LePage.

Early signs in October indicate Calgary’s housing market is continuing its trend of increased sales and prices.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, month-to-date up to Wednesday, there have been 624 MLS sales in the city, up 37.14 per cent from the same period last year. The average sale price has increased by 7.82 per cent to $460,509 while the median price is up 6.96 per cent to $415,000.

New listings of 850 have risen by 10.10 per cent but active listings are down by 22.73 per cent to 3,927. Average days on the market to sell have also dropped by 6.52 per cent to 43 days.

“Prices are continuing to climb because of supply and demand. We have significant demand and we have across the board limited supply regardless of the price ranges. There is not a substantial variety to choose from and in some cases, such as in the case of bungalows, there has been a short supply in Calgary and new listings often get multiple offers,” said Rachelle Starnes, a realtor with Royal LePage Foothills in Calgary.

“In support of this statement, we are seeing in the Royal LePage offices more quick sales and multiple offers in the last quarter than previous quarters. The buyers are anxious and know that once a new listing comes onto the market, they need to act quickly. Having said that, there are still good listings sitting on the market that are a puzzle as to why they are not getting the proper activity. We just listed a property in the community of Bel Aire this week that will sell for a minimum of 10 per cent more than before the flooding occurred and may even see multiple offers at the higher price. Prices in the higher ground areas are escalating with the higher demand in the central areas of the City.”

Photo By: tommaync

GEARING UP TO LIST IN THE SPRING?

Home not selling? Clean, paint and pare price
March 2, 2010
Jennifer Wilson-Speedy
YOURHOME.CA EDITOR

If only selling a home was as simple as putting up the "For Sale" sign. Instead, it's an emotional process balled up with agonizing financial decisions and life changes that only get more stressful the longer the property's on the market.

Sofie Allsopp helps Brits make over their homes to speed up the sale of stagnant properties in Unsellables UK ,an across-the-pond rethinking of the Canadian Unsellables series.

This season, Allsop says, brings "new people (and) some really great properties" – at least, once they've cleared up the filth, clutter and worn-out decor.

"I'm always amazed when people's houses are dirty when they put it on the market."

In addition to the general turnoff that is grime, clutter "makes a house look so much smaller," she says, recalling an episode where the newlyweds' house was piled so high with boxes "you could barely see the floor."

These kinds of messes not only eat away at valuable floor and counter space but also hinder prospective buyers' ability to envision their own belongings in the home, which is often a key step in their decision making.

So, if you're preparing to sell, it's worth the effort to pare down before the first showings, including stowing family photos and mementos. Allsop also recommends putting oversized or extra furniture into storage to help make rooms feel larger.

Plus, she notes, cutting down on clutter now means less packing when moving day comes.

Faded decor is another Unsellables no-no. Often in houses that have been lingering on the market, "everything just looks a bit tired and unloved," says Allsop.

As a result, paint is "one of the most important things to do before you put in on the market," she says, suggesting sellers opt for "pale but interesting" colours, such as muted greens and blues, to help create a fresh look without imposing a bold, and potentially intimidating, personality on the space.

Sellers must also consider their furniture placement. Paring down will help open up spaces, but pieces must also be arranged to emphasize the home's flow, which means natural walking paths and doorways shouldn't be blocked. Try to showcase the flexibility of the space too. For example, convey that the home office could also be a bedroom by adding a small bed.

To prevent your home from languishing on the market, Allsop says one of the most important steps is getting a real estate expert to help you set a realistic price. She says a lot of the time people list their homes for too much money – and it ends up sitting for months until they lower the price.

In addition to delays for the sellers, listings that sit on the market also lose appeal with prospective buyers.

"If a house has been on the market for a few months, people will keep seeing it in their (web) searches and it will start to feel stale," she explains. "Price it for sale."

And, she adds, don't forget to give your home's exterior a little TLC – she notes that will be the photo on your Internet listings.

"You have two seconds to impress before someone clicks on to the next house," she says. "No one looks at a home with an overgrown yard and says, `This is the house for me.' "

Mowing the lawn, painting the front door, stowing the garbage bins and putting out some flowers "will instantly make the front of the house look smarter."